Detective Superintendent Andrew Evans, the commander of the Armed Response Command, said the security environment nationally had changed. "People don't like hearing that, but that is unfortunately the sad reality we face currently in Australia," Evans told the Herald ahead of the command's first day of operations.
The ARC will focus on tourist hotspots including Circular Quay, where Evans said the estimated 50 million annual train and ferry passengers who transfer through the transport hub are particularly vulnerable. Officers will also patrol places of worship, major sporting events and mass gatherings, gradually replacing the Operation Shelter deployment that had been tasked with combatting antisemitism after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
ARC officers will be armed with shortened versions of the semiautomatic Australian Combat Assault Rifle, kept with them at all times and carried in high-risk areas. The weapon's shortened version is designed to allow officers responding to active incidents to access firearms quickly while en route and engage offenders immediately.
Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram allegedly used a high-powered rifle and a shotgun to shoot dozens of people at a Hanukkah celebration on December 14, killing 15. Officers initially responding to the Bondi attack were armed only with service pistols.
Officers will patrol Sydney in purpose-built vehicles, BMW X5s and Toyota LandCruisers, fitted with technology that allows them to receive real-time intelligence from the command's operations centre and locate nearby police resources. Assault rifles will be kept in gun safes inside the vehicles. The operations centre will be staffed 24/7 by intelligence analysts who will receive relevant information from bodies including the nation's spy agency ASIO.
The ARC's priority is to deter potential terror attacks through high-visibility policing, but officers are trained to respond to active armed offender incidents. They have undergone behavioural observation training to help identify individuals at high-risk locations who may pose a threat, and tactical medical training. The command is modelled on similar units in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is expected to comprise 250 officers when it reaches capacity at the end of 2027.
Evans said the ARC's capabilities would supersede what Sydney's Jewish and Islamic communities have previously seen under Operation Shelter. "I am conscious that 10½ months ago, 15 lives were lost at a Jewish event, and we will certainly strive to prevent that type of incident ever occurring again," he said.
Briefing the command on Monday, Evans said officers would need to earn the trust of the public, which "rightly expects a police force that is prepared, accountable and capable". "Operational readiness is about ensuring that if the community needs us on its worst day, we can perform at our best," he said, adding that the command's role is built on "preserving life".